After starting the game on a 15-0 run, FAU women’s basketball eventually cruised to an 89-74 victory over Southern Miss on Friday night.

With the victory, the Owls (11-13, 5-8 C-USA) season-long six game losing streak comes to an end. This is their first win in almost a month, with their last win coming on January 25 against UTSA.

This is the Owls first victory ever against the Eagles, losing the previous four games.

The loss extends the Eagles (13-13, 5-8 C-USA) losing streak to a season long four straight games. The two teams are now tied for tenth overall in the conference standings with three games remaining for both teams.

The Owls hold the tiebreaker advantage due to this victory. The top 12 teams in the conference make the postseason tournament. Six teams have already clinched spots with the remaining seven teams left to battle it out for the last six spots due to Marshall being mathematically eliminated from making it.

The Owls started the game on a 15-0 run. The Eagles failed to put any points on the board until a three pointer by guard Megan Brown with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter. That was the closest the Eagles got all game.

The Owls shot 50 percent in the first half, making 15 of their 30 shot attempts. They shot over 50 percent from three-point range going 7-of-13.

The Eagles could only make eight of their 33 attempts, shooting 24 percent overall. They made just one of their eight three-point attempts.

The Eagles started the second half hot starting on an 8-0 run to pull within 20, 47-27.

A jumper by senior guard Malia Kency sparked the Owls on a 13-6 run to go up 60-33 with just under five minutes to go.  

The Eagles then pulled within 22 going on a 6-1 run to make it 61-39 with 2:38 to go.

Both teams exchanged shots after that, with junior guard Alexis Cowan giving the Owls a 70-44 lead after a buzzer-beating floater to end the third quarter.

After a three pointer by Kency to start the fourth quarter the Eagles scored 11 straight to pull within 18 of the Owls, 73-55, with 6:58 remaining.

They pulled within 18 on two separate occasions later in the half, but failed to threaten the Owls lead.

A three pointer with 45 seconds remaining pulled the Eagles within 15 points, the closest it had been since trailing 21-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The Owls shot 53 percent overall for the game, going 31-of-58. They shot 9-of-19 from three-point range and were 18-of-24 from the free throw line.

They were led by redshirt junior guard Danneal Ford who had 18 points at halftime. She finished the game with a career high 27 points. It was the third most points by a single scorer Southern Miss had allowed all season.

She shot 71 percent from three-point range and was 10-of-19 overall.

Making her first start of the year in place of senior guard Sasha Cedeno, Cowan made the most of it. She scored a career high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting overall.

“I think she did well,” said FAU head women’s basketball coach Jim Jabir. “I think she played within herself and was a threat. I thought she did some good things.”

Cedeno, the Owls leading point scorer and rebounder, did not play. According to Jabir she has a stress fracture in her right foot and he believes the injury to be career ending.

“We have three games left. If we continue to play like we did tonight, then I hope it is minimum,” said Jabir on how that would impact his team

Senior guard Malia Kency added 16 points on 60 percent shooting.

The Eagles had four players score in double digits.

They were led by guard Jayla King, who scored a team high 22 points on 75 percent shooting. She also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Guard Megan Brown had 17 points along with seven boards.

The Owls final home game of the year is Sunday against Florida International at 2:00 p.m.

Matt Brown is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @mattyb407.